It is not about the election anymore: News media will not cover revolution.
by
don mikulecky
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The situation is more than obvious: ( Concentration of media ownership) and has been for a long long time. Bernie Sanders is saying things that are resonating among growing numbers of people. The things Bernie is saying are revolutionary in their very nature. He is pointing out the nature of a totally corrupt system that uses the media and the electoral process to deflect people's attention from the system they need to change.
In the midst of the swelling numbers of people who are being enabled to say openly that they want the system changed there are plenty of tactics being used to try to marginalize Bernie. What is so ironic is that you can not marginalize someone who was already marginalized and is fighting his way into the public consciousness in spite of the media. Read on below and we can take a closer look at the media that tries desperately to hold on to its control of the public mind.
First of all do not underestimate Bernie's cleverness. He is saying more than one thing. He has made proposals for new ways to deal with health care, education, taxes, etc. These proposals are coupled with the deeper message that we have a totally unjust system and that we have had enough of it. The proposals are not the point. The point is that for the first time we are hearing a presidential candidate in one of the major parties say these things openly and consistently.
The media are totally unable to deal with his outrage against the system for it is a threat to the people who own these organizations and control them. Their job is to keep people's attention totally focused on the theater being staged one more time as approach the 2016 election.
Don't be fooled that the oligarchy actually cares that much who wins elections. They always have all the possible winners in their pocket well before the ballots are cast. What they desperately care about is that the theater that is created during the election season is effective in keeping the voters from realizing that they are being had one more time.
If you go to the link above you will be treated to some almost humorous statements about what the concentration of the media outlets in the hands of the oligarchy produces:
Concentration of media ownership is very frequently seen as a problem of contemporary media and society. When media ownership is concentrated in one or more of the ways mentioned above, a number of undesirable consequences follow, including the following:
Commercially driven, ultra-powerful mass market media is primarily loyal to sponsors, i.e. advertisers and government rather than to the public interest.
Only a few companies representing the interests of a minority elite control the public airwaves.
Healthy, market-based competition is absent, leading to slower innovation and increased prices.
Diversity of viewpoints
It is important to elaborate upon the issue of media consolidation and its effect upon the diversity of information reaching a particular market. Critics of consolidation raise the issue of whether monopolistic or oligopolistic control of a local media market can be fully accountable and dependable in serving the public interest.
Freedom of the press and editorial independence
On the local end, reporters have often seen their stories refused or edited beyond recognition. An example would be the repeated refusal of networks to air "ads" from anti-war advocates to liberal groups like MoveOn.org, or religious groups like the United Church of Christ, regardless of factual basis. Journalists and their reports may be directly sponsored by parties who are the subject of their journalism leading to reports which actually favor the sponsor, have that appearance, or are simply a repetition of the sponsors opinion.
Consequently, if the companies dominating a media market choose to suppress stories that do not serve their interests, the public suffers, since they are not adequately informed of some crucial issues that may affect them.
The effectiveness of the use of elections and the surrounding theater to totally distract people from the causes of the system's failure to serve their needs is very close to total. The media has used its overwhelming power to make sure that the system stays stable while it produces the illusion of its leadership being challenged through the elections their owners control.
Old ways and old memes are hard to change. In the midst of the huge swelling support for what Bernie is doing is a significant number of supporters and opponents playing the roles the media and its owners have "scripted" for them. They play into the theater of "beating" other candidates rather than focusing on changing the system that is the real enemy of the people.
